Treviño thought for a moment before he added, “And I’m sure you did a thorough search of the local hospitals and the morgue.”
The man nodded. “She’s not anywhere, not in any local hospital, and we already sent her dentist to examine the corpses they haven’t been able to identify. No one’s called about a ransom, either. It’s like the earth just swallowed her whole.”
Treviño looked at a telephone that had been set up on a small base with speakers in the middle of the desk. Off to one side were a laptop and a sophisticated device with a map of the city waiting for the kidnappers to make contact. These tracking technologies were Don Williams’s specialty, he recalled. That Fucking Gringo, right in front of him.
The detective sighed. It didn’t look good for the girl. If her parents turned to the bureaucratic labyrinth of the law, his colleagues on the police force would take at least a week to produce any results. If the police in La Eternidad could be trusted, first they’d have to file a report with the prosecutor’s office, which would then pass the case to the police, who would open a file on the case and, if they managed to identify the guilty parties or catch them in the act, would ask the prosecutor to initiate judicial proceedings against them. Then a judge would review the case and sign a warrant to arrest the accused. If they were to be brought in, they’d be given a sentence that would first pass through the prosecutor’s office; then, once they were remanded, they’d have a hearing before the judge. It was a long and tortuous process that in other countries would take less time and yield better results. But we’re talking about La Eternidad, Tamaulipas, where the law is sold to the highest bidder, and the police round out their salaries with payouts from the criminals.
“We need your help, Treviño. You know the port better than anyone, and you were a good cop,” said the consul.
And because this was the exact phrase he’d used a few years earlier to convince him to do the right thing, Treviño struggled not to punch him in the face.
“You’ve got a shitty memory, for a pathological liar,” he exploded. “Tell them to go talk to your friend, Margarito.”
Everyone, including Mr. De León, could tell that the detective’s answer had offended Don Williams. Sensing there was about to be trouble, Moreno and the Bus discreetly moved closer to Treviño, but the magnate stopped them with a wave of his hand and changed the subject.
“I want nothing to do with Chief Margarito. On the other hand, Don Williams insists that no one knows the chief’s methods better than you, which makes you our first choice for finding our daughter. I’ve also heard that thanks to your time on the force, you know the people in the trade you’d need to talk to and how not to stir up trouble with them. That more than one of them owes you a favor. What I’d like to ask is that while we wait for their call you go out and see if either Los Nuevos or the Cartel del Puerto has my daughter.”
Treviño shook his head.
“I don’t have connections with either of those organizations.”
“Not with La Cuarenta, either?” the girl’s mother asked.
“Not with any of them,” the detective insisted. “I dealt with them only as much as I had to and always kept it professional, back when I was a cop.”
The gringo interrupted him.
“The investigation doesn’t necessarily have to start there, though. It’s too early to say for sure that Cristina was taken by someone in the trade.”
“It was Los Nuevos,” the magnate declared.
Streams of tears were running down his wife’s cheeks. She cried silently, wiping her face with a handkerchief. Treviño looked suspiciously at De León.
“Why do you think it was them?”
The magnate fixed his gaze on the window before answering.
“Over the past year … or maybe two years … several people who identified themselves as belonging to those organizations have tried to extort money from me. Repeatedly.” De León chose his words carefully. “My people felt compelled to respond to these aggressions. It’s possible, though it would be the worst possible scenario, that they’ve taken my daughter as payback for the way we treated them.”
His wife sobbed convulsively and he went to comfort her. In the meantime, the detective looked the Bus and Moreno over and realized that the giant with the ridiculous mustache and the guy with the goatee probably had no qualms about taking care of a few delinquents here and there. It couldn’t be easy, meeting with and then neutralizing the criminals lining up to get the Grupo De León to pay dues.
“Who came here trying to get money out of you?” asked the detective.
“Pretty much everyone, it seems,” the consul chimed in.
The magnate continued. “The fucking bums who terrorized my secretaries said they were Los Nuevos. There were others, too, who said they were with the Cartel del Puerto, Mr. Obregón’s organization. They were more serious, respectful even, but they wanted their share just the same. There’s also been plenty of derelicts who come by claiming to work for one of them: small-time criminals, gang members trying to run their own racket. Ever since things started getting really bad around here, any asshole can just grab a gun and come down, trying to collect dues.”
“Any fatalities?” The ex-cop asked, eyeing the bodyguards.
“How should I put this …” Mr. De León replied. “I don’t pay them to stand around with their arms crossed.”
Treviño wondered how many of the execution-style killings carried out around the port over the past few months had been the handiwork of the two bodyguards standing in front of him and how much Mr. De León must have paid the police and the local press to keep the corpses off the front page of the papers.
“I’m sorry,” Treviño said, resting his hands on his knees as though he were about to stand. “I hope you find your daughter safe and sound. I’d like to help you, but I’m not looking for any trouble.”
“We haven’t even discussed numbers. And it would only be until they called.” Mr. De León insisted.
“You were given bad advice,” the detective said, looking at Williams. “I don’t do this kind of thing anymore. Investigating a crime always involves some risk, but investigating anyone in the trade is suicide.”
“Wait. There must be some way.”
“Why don’t you send your people?”
“Because I need them here, keeping an eye on the company.”
“Bring someone in from the capital.” He shrugged. “Or get the gringo to help you hire a detective from the other side, someone from the FBI.”
“They wouldn’t last five minutes here,” the magnate said.
“Do it for my daughter,” Mrs. De León broke through the formalities and free of the magnate’s arms. She took the detective’s hands. “Think about her. My husband will reward you generously.”
“I’m sorry”—Treviño looked up—“but I don’t do this kind of thing anymore. I explained it very clearly to your people, but they insisted on bringing me.”
“Treviño.” Mrs. De León’s pale eyes sparkled. “Please. Just until they call.”
After gently removing himself from the woman’s grip, Treviño felt obligated to explain. “Look,” he said. “If I take this gig, I’ll have to start over from zero in some other part of the country. I wouldn’t be able to live around here ever again, and that’s no good for me. I’ve finally got my life here set up, which wasn’t easy, and I like it the way it is. Not to mention the fact that my wife would kill me. I promised her I’d never do that kind of thing again. You’re a wife. I’m sure you understand.”
“Look.” Mr. De León wrote a figure on a piece of paper and showed it to the visitor. “With this much money, you and your family could start over anywhere you wanted. And start over right.”
“If I make it out alive.” A smile flashed across half of the detective’s face.
“As a father I understand your position, and I ask that you understand mine. If anything happens to you, I’ll take care of your family. They’ll have every
thing they could possibly need.”
Treviño looked the magnate in the eyes, less certain than before. He thought about it for a moment and said, “No, but thanks.”
Seeing things take a turn for the worse, the gringo let out a heavy sigh, stood, and walked to the window, keeping Moreno between him and the detective.
“There’s also your brother. We know he entered the United States illegally, running from Los Nuevos. Poor guy. He was a pretty good CPA, and now he’s stuck parking cars in San Antonio, living off tips and whatever he can find in the trash. Just imagine: a man with his education and character, having a hard time putting food on the table. He’s been having a rough go of it for months now, and he could be deported at any time. Just imagine what would happen if Los Nuevos got their hands on him. Your brother needs a green card and I can get him one. Otherwise”—the consul coughed twice—“he might end up back here, and that wouldn’t be good.”
Treviño clenched his fists and shot the gringo an eloquent look. Both Moreno and the Bus kept their eyes on the ex-cop, who weighed half as much as either of them but could still cause plenty of trouble, as he’d proved when they went to pick him up.
A cement truck passed under the window and the building shook for a few seconds. Right then, Mrs. De León caught sight of the figure her husband had marked on the slip of paper, rolled her eyes, and muttered, “Don’t be so cheap. Offer him more. What you’ve written there is an insult.”
“I’ll triple the offer,” said Mr. De León, also rolling his eyes. But the detective snorted and shook his head.
When the building stopped shaking, the detective turned to the magnate.
“Five days. If I don’t find anything in that time, the deal is off. The only condition is that my brother gets his green card no matter what.”
Mr. De León and his wife breathed a sigh of relief. Five days were better than nothing.
“Deal,” said the gringo.
“You’ll be paid in full when you find my daughter,” said the magnate. “And there’s a bonus in it for you if you bring her back alive. What do you need to get started?”
Treviño didn’t even look at him. “Just a car. And some cash, to pay informants.”
“The car you can have right now, just go out to the parking lot and take whichever one you want. And take one of these guys with you,” he said, pointing to Moreno and the Bus.
“Take one of these guys?”
“It’s not a good idea to head out alone. Getting around can be complicated here.”
Treviño looked at the two gorillas standing across from him and shook his head.
“You have no idea how bad the city’s gotten,” the consul insisted. “And you’ll be happy to have them around if you run into Margarito.”
Treviño looked at the bodyguards and considered the offer. He didn’t seem convinced.
“How much do you need to get started?” The detective didn’t answer, so Mr. De León opened the top drawer of his desk, took out a stack of bills, stuck it into an envelope, and slid it across the table. “Here’s two hundred thousand pesos.”
The detective looked suspiciously at the magnate.
“Something important is still missing, you know.”
“Whatever you need.”
“My intervention here is illegal unless you sign a contract hiring me as a bodyguard. If the military stops me, or Margarito does, I’ll need to account for this weapon I’m carrying.”
De León shot him the smile he reserved for business deals that were working out in his favor. “The contract’s been ready for a few hours. It just needs your signature.”
He signaled to Moreno, who left the room. Sweet mother, thought the detective. What have I gotten myself into?
Just then, Treviño’s cell phone rang. The detective glanced at the screen, excused himself, and stepped into a corner of the room to take the call. The consul caught every word of the conversation.
“Yes … I’m here in a meeting with Rafael de León … Yeah, the one from the pharmacies. I didn’t go to him. He came looking for me … No, there’s nothing to worry about. They’re just offering me a job in his company. I’ll be back soon … I’ll call you in a little while and explain everything. No, don’t think like that. I won’t be here long. Nothing is going to happen. Okay. I’ll call you soon. Bye, now.”
The detective ran his hand across the back of his neck.
“My wife,” he said and then addressed the consul directly for the first time that day. “I imagine you have surveillance on all the ways out of the city?”
“Absolutely,” replied Williams. “Five people who know the girl are standing guard: one at the airport, one on the bridge to Veracruz. Another at the piers and two more along the highways heading out of the city toward the north and the west. There’s no way someone could get out of here with her without their noticing.”
“Unless she’s unconscious in the trunk of a car,” Treviño said, looking at her mother. “And they’re probably not planning to take any of those routes. There are other ways to get in and out of the port.”
“Such as?”
The detective shook his head. “In a motorboat, from some deserted stretch of beach. In a small aircraft taking off from a secret airstrip. In a cargo truck, hidden under piles of fruit or corn.”
“Excuse me, but—” stammered the consul.
“No, excuse me,” Treviño interrupted him. “You’ve brought me nothing but trouble as long as I’ve known you. Hear this: if my brother doesn’t get his green card, it’s going to be your ass.”
“The contract is on its way,” said the magnate, trying to calm him.
Standing at the window, Treviño crossed his arms and looked down at the workers carrying construction materials into and out of the factory until Moreno came back in and set the stapled documents in front of his employer. The detective sat facing the desk, picked up a pen, and read the contract.
“Let’s be honest,” he said as he signed the papers. “People have tried to extort money from you on numerous occasions over the past year, but now your daughter disappears and no one’s asking for a ransom. The clock keeps ticking, and no one comes forward. To me, this comes down to one thing: Who are your enemies, Mr. De León? Is there someone who hates you more than anyone else?”
The businessman’s jaw dropped, and it took him a moment to respond.
“I don’t have any enemies,” he said. “That I know of, at least.”
The detective followed his gaze and realized he might be holding something back because of his wife’s presence, so he flashed him that half smile of his and said, “Why don’t you just think about it and start putting together a list.”
“Where are you going to start?” asked the consul.
“At the scene of the crime.”
“That might not be a good idea,” the consul argued. “The police were still there just a few hours ago.”
“It’s where we have to start.”
“In that case, I should take you in my car. I have diplomatic plates.”
The detective scoffed. “Why don’t you work on getting the video feeds from the cameras around the club? The city used to have twenty cameras on the traffic lights at all the major intersections. If you want to do something to help, get the last few hours of tape from the cameras on the Avenidas Costera, Gulf, and Héroes de la Independencia. Seeing as how you and Margarito are such good friends, it shouldn’t be too hard for you.”
“The chief and I aren’t friends,” retorted the consul.
“Call it whatever you like. Just get the videos. If you don’t want to talk to Margarito, I’m sure you have plenty of other contacts on the force. One more thing”— he looked at Mrs. De León—“I’ll need to talk to your daughter’s best friend. Tell her I’m going to pay her a visit, or invite her here to save her the shock.”
“I’m not sure she’ll want to,” Mrs. De León said. “And I doubt her parents would let her come here if they knew she’d be talk
ing with a police officer. They’re all terribly frightened.”
“If I don’t talk to her, the odds that I find your daughter drop by fifty percent.”
“All right,” said Mr. De León, looking at his wife. “We’ll get her here. We just need to add one more thing to the document. What is your wife’s name, so we can add her as a beneficiary?”
Treviño looked suspiciously at the two bodyguards and picked up a pen.
“Here, I’ll write it down for you.”
He saw the way they’d looked at his wife when they’d gone to get him at the beach. Against his urging, his wife had come out to see what was going on while he was dealing with the visitors. He realized she was there because the giant and his companion looked up and softened a little all of a sudden. Out of the corner of his eye, Treviño had seen her using one hand like a visor to get a clearer view of them. She’d looked incredible in her floral dress, playfully lifted by the wind. It hadn’t escaped his attention how the giant with the mustache licked his lips at the sight of her.
“Are you two family?” he’d asked.
Treviño hadn’t answered. The giant ran his eyes lustfully over the girl’s slim waist and full breasts. A few steps away, the Canadians had sipped their pink cocktails and watched the drama unfold with the curiosity of tourists. Finally, the Bus spoke. “Come with us. You’ll be back soon.”
The detective understood there was no way out and held them back with a movement of his hand.
“Wait for me here.”
Treviño walked slowly up the stairs and turned toward the house and his wife. She hadn’t moved a millimeter until then, but she guessed what was about to happen and turned away, furious. He took her by the shoulders and she shook her head once, twice. The visitors watched her tell the detective off with angry words and desperate tears, until Treviño finally calmed her down and held her. Then he turned and cleared the stairs in a single jump, landing behind the bodyguards.
“Let’s go.”
The stocky one swung into action right away, but the man with the ridiculous mustache had been slower to leave the sand, focused as he was on the woman’s curves.
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